---

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
1999 – 2000

The Phantom Menace was the first Star Wars movie released since 1983, so expectations were very high for the toy line. Hasbro released new figures with fan events across the globe in March of 1999, with items quickly selling out. This success was short lived as the movie was not well-received with many fans. Along with the figures, Hasbro also released multiple accessories, playsets and vehicles. In addition, a new technology called CommTech chips were introduced, that played various phrases from the movie.

For more information about Hasbro’s Episode 1: The Phantom Menace line, see bottom of the page for a complete summary.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999): Basic Figures

Hasbro released 38 figures for the Episode I line in 1999, and most are fairly easy to find nowadays. They can usually be purchased at low end prices on the secondary market. It should also be noted there were 4 different variations of the Battle Droid figure (Clean, Dirty, Shot and Sliced).

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (2000): Basic Figures

This batch of figures released in 2000 are most definitely the harder to find among the Episode I line, but are no means considered rare. They were released in lower quantities towards the end of the Episode 1 line, so they just weren’t as widely available.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Cinema Scenes

Since the Cinema Scenes proved to be so popular with their Power of the Force line, Hasbro decided to release a few more for their Phantom Menace line as well, with Watto’s Box being the most popular of the three.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Creature Sets

The key creature set here is without a doubt the Fambaa w/ Gungan Warrior. This thing is HUGE and amazingly cool looking. The Eopie with Qui-Gon can also be tough to find on the secondary market. The rest of the Creatures are serviceable and be easily found nowadays.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Deluxe Figures

Hasbro released three Deluxe figure for their Phantom Menace line in 1999, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. Each came with a lightsaber handle to control them with their action features.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Light-Up Figures

There were several more light-up figures planed for this series, but only these two made it to actual production and release.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Multipacks

Hasbro released a few miscellaneous multipacks for their Episode One line, including a Darth Maul with Infiltrator set, Final Lightsaber Duel set, CommTech Reader, CommTech 2-Pack and a Figure Collector 2-Pack set. It should be noted the CommTech Reader 2-Pack and Figure Collector 2-Packs came in several different combinations made up of different figures, but the value remains the same.

There were several combinations of different figures for the Figure Collector 2-Pack

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Playsets

I love the throwback R2-D2 case that turns into a playset. It’s reminiscent of the vintage Vader/C-3PO action figure cases. The two Theed playsets are actually quite nice and are definitely worth picking up if you can find them at reasonable prices.

R2-D2 Carry Case

Market Value:
With Packaging $25 – $40
Loose $10 – $17

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): Vehicles

Hasbro released a nice assortment of vehicles from the movie, with the Naboo Royal Starship being among the better vehicles that Hasbro had created any modern Star Wars line.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): 12 Inch Figures

The Power of the Force line established the 12 inch figure as a staple to the modern day Star Wars lines, and proved to be wildly successful, so it was only natural for Hasbro to include them with their Phantom Menace line as well. The figures were nicely detailed with a good character selection.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): 12 Inch Queen Amidala Collection

Hasbro wanted to capitalize on their strong female lead character, Queen Amidala, by releasing a line that was clearly catered to young female buyers. These figures allowed you to comb and braid Amidala’s hair, as well as change her outfits.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999 – 2000): 12 Inch Queen Amidala Portrait Edition

Once again, Hasbro wanted to capitalize on their strong female lead character, Queen Amidala, by releasing a line that was clearly catered to young female buyers. These figures were higher quality figures, kind of like the high end Barbie’s that were meant to be more collected than played with. Still, they were beautifully done figures and remain very popular in today’s market.

Not only was “The Phantom Menace” the first Star Wars movie released since 1983, but it also meant we would have our fist new Star Wars action figures from a new movie as well. Hasbro released their new figures and toys with fan events all across the globe in March of 1999, and the figures were gobbled up by kids and collectors alike as soon as they reached the shelves. It seemed like Star Wars was back with a vengeance…….until the movie actually came out. The backlash began almost immediately and action figure sales took a sharp decline. Kids still loved Jar Jar Binks and little Anakin Skywalker, but collectors pretty much stayed away at that point. Sure, everyone bought Darth Maul stuff, but how many different Obi-Wan’s and Qui-Gon’s does a person need?

The packaging for the Phantom Menace line was very similar to the Power of the Force layout with Darth Vader being replaced by Darth Maul, and the color scheme was now a red starburst instead of the Orange/Green from Power of the Force. Overall, the packaging wasn’t that bad and Hasbro gave us some new technology as well with the CommTech chips, which were now included with every figure. These chips would be placed inside of a reader and played different phrases from the movie related to the character pictured on the chip. This was a bit gimmicky but it was still a nice try by Hasbro to bring something fresh to the figures.

This line sold very well due to fans clamoring for the new Star Wars movie and toys, but it just didn’t catch on like Hasbro wanted. This of course, was no fault of Hasbro, but the movie just wasn’t that well received with the fans. It remained very popular with the kids but most collectors slowed down after the first couple of action figure waves. These toys can now be found in abundance at just about every comic, toy or hobby shop on the low, low. Overall, this is a cheap line to collect and can be easily found, but collecting this line would probably be reserved for hard core collectors or completists.